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Fast-Drying Nail Polishes

By Diane Kaye


Well girls, I was trying to thing of something to write about for this months product evaluation, so I looked into my crystal ball, and behold I saw red. Red you say! Well the reason I saw red was because someone put nail polish all over it. So I decided to do one on those fast setting polishes you hear about. Are they really that good? Well I went down to my trusty drug store and looked over the selection. I got a Maybelline Express in Caviar Rouge, Revlon Top Speed in Garnet, and Almay One Coat in Jewel. To clarify these colors, Caviar Rouge is red, plain and simple, Garnet is a brownish red with a pearlescence texture, and Jewel is a Mauve. What I tested for was, how fast they dried, their goop factor, number of coats to achieve a truly solid color, and how skuff resistant they were. I tested them both on a plate of glass and on my nails, the ultimate test.

My first test was on glass. I tried a heavy coat and a thin coat of each. None were dry to the touch in one minute. In two minutes the Maybelline was dry to the touch while the Revlon and Almay were sticky. The thin coat dried faster. After four minutes, a time when a girl gets impatient and touches her nails to check for dryness, only the Maybelline was dry for the thick and thin coats. For the thin coat, all were dry enough to touch gently. After 5 minutes, only the Maybelline withstood the nail dent test. In this test I strike the polish with my nail end. If a dent is left, it fails. The bigger the dent the more it fails. Another test is the finger press test. This is where I place my finger on the polish and press slightly. After I remove my finger I look for any polish removed, finger prints, and any dulling of the glossy surface. All indicate the surface is not sufficiently dry. After 5 minutes, the Maybelline passed while the Almay and Revlon were damaged somewhat.

With one coat, the Revlon looked pretty uniform in color, the Maybelline was uneven as was the Almay. With two coats, they all got pretty uniform in color. A third coat left only the Maybelline splotchy. Three coats was actually too much as it took forever to dry. What I was doing, was to test the uniformity of the color by holding the glass up to the light and looking at the color evenness. My brushing technique is pretty good, so there was no bias on my part.

Next I tried the polish on my nails to see how it looks under a bright fluorescent light. One coat of each was applied. The Maybelline looked fairly solid, but when I held my finger up to the light, I could see the unevenness. The Revlon looked great, only a hint of unevenness. The Revlon appears to be much thicker having more density and good uniformity. The Almay looked great also. It has a nice density also. Quite uniform as well.

Next came the goop test. This is for all you girls who think you can keep stroking the brush on the nail and eventually get it right. Once the polish begins to dry, additional stroking causes the polish to "goop" up into lumps. The Almay gives you about a minute and a half to play. The Maybelline tells you to quit it after only 40 seconds, while the Revlon gives you a whopping 50 seconds before it turns into a lump.

Finally I gave them a scratch test on the nails. What I did was to put one thin coat of each color, one per nail. I let dry for 5 minutes and then lightly drug the nail across a piece of sand paper. The Maybelline was destroyed in one swipe. The Revlon and Almay survived. The Revlon after two swipes showed minor scratches while the Almay appeared unscathed even after three swipes.

How do I rate these products? Well the Maybelline lives up to its reputation of being a fast dryer, but falls short of good color uniformity. It is extremely thin and easily damaged without a protective coat. Your nail base better be smooth for this one to look good. The Revlon did not appear to dry that much faster than regular polish, despite its name. It did give a good coat and appearance. This may of been slightly influenced by the color I chose. The Almay appeared to be the most durable and dried about the same rate as the Revlon. Bottom line is, if you want a fast setting polish rather than a really good looking polish, go for the Maybelline. For a better look, I liked the Almay a bit over the Revlon. One final word, if you are in a hurry, I suggest you apply one of the Flash Dryers over the polish, once it has set up. I'd give the polish about 5 minutes before applying the Flash Dryer. Leave it on about 5 more minutes and then gently daub it off with a paper towel. You really should apply a clear hard coat over the polish to keep it looking nice.

Well girls, thats about it for this month. If any of you in reader land would like to see a product evaluated, before you buy it yourself, drop me a line about it. If I can find it and its within my budget, a big IF, I'll do my best to give is a check.

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